The Manchester United fans were delighted with results in the Premier League last weekend which enabled them to strengthen their grip on 2nd place.

Manchester United coasted to a routine victory on Saturday afternoon as they swept Huddersfield aside at Old Trafford by 2 goals to nil. Elsewhere on match day 26, Tottenham and Liverpool shared the spoils at Anfield, Chelsea were humiliated by Watford at Vicarage Road, and Man City were held to a 1-1 draw by Burnley at Turf Moor.

The set of results could hardly have gone any better for the Red Devils who will now be feeling very confident about their chances of securing qualification for the Champions League this season.

Their bitter local-rivals have often dominated the headlines this season for their imperious style of attacking football, but they became the topic of discussion for a much different reason after their clash with Burnley.

Pep Guardiola opted to select just 6 substitutes on his bench for City’s trip to Burnley, and his decision provoked plenty of criticism from fans and pundits alike.

However, Sky Sportsjournalist Adam Bate recently appeared to jump to Guardiola’s defence as he published an article focusing on his decision to regularly deploy 21-year-old Oleksandr Zinchenko in City’s first team.

Pep Guardiola’s trust in Oleksandr Zinchenko reveals the truth about his attitude to youth

Zinchenko is an attacking midfielder by trade, but Guardiola has used the Ukrainian international as a left-back to cover the injured Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph in recent weeks.

In response to his article, plenty of Manchester United supporters were quick to criticise Bate for his opinion and the perceived insistence in the British media to heap praise on Guardiola at every available opportunity.

Here’s a selection of comments from the United supporters who responded to Bate’s article on Twitter…

A player he bought? Stop with the pro city propaganda! How about crediting José for giving more time than any other manager this season to academy players? Mctomney another local lad playing. If you're going to tell a story, tell it truthfully

He's a 21 year old midfield player purchased last season (not academy player) who is played out of position at left-back who is only getting games because Mendy, Delph and Danilo have been injured. Pep is playing him as he has to. It's fake opportunity. Not a promotion of youth